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Because they don't control it. They can't force you to use their client and bombard you with ads. With Skype, the client is a lot more locked-down, and there are no third party (guaranteed-ad-free) options :(

Unchecking 'promotions' is so hard in skype options, isn't it?

But if you don't like using the Skype client, use a SIP client with http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/business/skype-connect/

You have options.

Skype has always been reluctant (slight euphemism there) to let third party software connect to its network.

I don't really know how you can say that when Skype has been providing a SIP interface for years:

http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/business/skype-connect/

Skype used to run fine on my netbook. It insists on updating itself - there's no way to stay on old versions. It got more and more sluggish with time - it took longer to launch and the video call quality decreased.

Now when I run it it pops up a message saying "Your computer speed is very slow"

http://community.skype.com/t5/Windows/Your-computer-speed-is-very-slow/td-p/385505

Skype used to work fine on machines that were a lot more underpowered than a netbook even on connections that were a lot slower than my current 50Mbit down 8Mbit up DSL.

If you can't get crappy video in CIF-like resolution to work over an 8Mbit uplink given a dual core Atom with SSE at 1.6Ghz, I'd say the word bloated is about right. Especially if, as I suspect in the Skype case, the problem is not that you don't have the CPU horsepower to compress the video but that the app wraps up efficient video codec into a large application such that the video codec bit gets starved out. Of course if you have a fast CPU you probably don't have this problem. Still older versions of Skype actually worked a lot better on the same hardware, and even older versions used to run perfectly with a slower CPU and a slower connection. And it's not like it's impossible to decouple the video codec from the rest of the application and run it at a higher priority.

Skype for whatever reason just decided to put up a passive aggressive warning was easier than making their software work on netbooks when they found the issue during testing (why else was the warning code put in?). Even though realistically a lot more people are going to run Skype on a netbook than on a developer class laptop.

It's actually typical of modern Microsoft that they've bought something like Skype long after it has passed its prime. Skype a decade ago worked very well indeed. Modern Skype seems to be getting worse and worse. Still I'm sure the WinRT rewrite will solve all these issues, because one thing modern Microsoft APIs are known for is reducing bloat and making code run well on low end hardware.

Privacy law requires a specific purpose, it is not legal to say that "we share your personal data with third parties" in a contract: the parties must be specified. This is especially the case for terms and conditions documents*.

You mean like... Skype's

.
Our primary purpose in collecting information is to provide you with a safe, smooth, efficient, and customized experience. Skype collects and uses, or has third party service providers acting on Skype’s behalf collecting and using, personal data relating to you, as permitted or necessary to:
--snip--protect your and Skype’s interests, including in particular to enforce our Terms of Service and prevent and fight against fraud, (together, the Purposes). ...
Skype may disclose personal information to respond to legal requirements, exercise our legal rights or defend against legal claims, to protect Skype’s interests, fight against fraud and to enforce our policies or to protect anyone's rights, property, or safety

And like Paypal's...

How we share personal information with other parties... Service providers under contract who help with our business operations such as fraud prevention, bill collection, marketing and technology services. Our contracts dictate that these service providers only use your information in connection with the services they perform for us and not for their own benefit.

You mean this?

Fair enough on the open part - it wasn't published (FaceTime). But, an analysis shows that all protocols used under the covers are open standards and well-vetted. iMessage uses similarly well vetted technology. That's not true with Skype's protocol stack, not to mention the history etc that remains out there.

Skype used to have a pretty impressive peer to peer encryption design. No longer, I guess.

Yes it does. Nothing has changed with the peer-to-peer encryption. You have been fed rumors, speculation. Here is what Skype says (but if you *want* to make it into a conspiracy you can of course assume that they are lying):

Skype software autonomously applies encryption to Skype to Skype calls between computers, smartphones and other mobile devices with the capacity to carry a full version of Skype software as it always has done. This has not changed.

(from http://blogs.skype.com/en/2012/07/what_does_skypes_architecture_do.html)

This is once again someone irresponsibly reading license terms and trying to twist every phrase and condition into something sinister. Like Skype making sure that you understand that instant messages may be stored on the servers because they need to be synchronized with multiple devices which are not all on-line. Like Skype saving voice-messages - because they are (d-oh!) *voice* *messages* (as opposed to peer to peer communication).

For a real take on this read: http://www.zdnet.com/skype-talks-back-to-critics-on-security-and-privacy-7000001682/

My mom's Skype account was recently hacked. Apparently the hackers were able to abuse the Skype Manager system to gain control of her account without her authorization, transfer her account balance, and reset her password. Skype's customer service has acknowledged the problem but has not been able to restore access to the account yet.

(I don't know any more details than that, as I haven't been involved.)

The first set of hotfixes (Skype for Windows and Skype for Linux) to the Skype IM/chat bug are out – see http://blogs.skype.com/garage/2012/07/hotfix_for_multiple_skype_clie.html.

Yes it does indeed, for some reason. I live here, I know. http://www.skype.com/ is not available though.

http://www.skype.com/go/getskype-linux-beta-dynamic
http://www.skype.com/go/getskype-linux-beta-static
Also see: http://linux.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2916797&cid=40330813

http://www.skype.com/go/getskype-linux-beta-dynamic
http://www.skype.com/go/getskype-linux-beta-static
Also see: http://linux.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2916797&cid=40330813

http://shop.skype.com/webcams/tvwebcams/tely-hd/ + http://www.walmart.com/ip/Sceptre-32-X322BV-HD/15739136

Get a TV Then go here.

http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/get-skype/on-your-tv/

Look it's 2012!

There are a number of TV's and Blue-Ray players that have Skype clients.

The Tely-HD is a stand alone solution that does the same thing.

It's easy to find wall mount units for a TV, I suggest using Monoprice.

Setting the grand parents up with one of these units so they can sit in their living room and use the TV, along with some sort of unit in the kids room is the way to go. The TV can always be easily repurposed later. If you already have a TV adding a Blue-Ray with the capability is a nice way to get Skype now and be able to play Disney movies for the kid later.

There are a number of TV's and Blue-Ray players that have Skype clients.

The Tely-HD is a stand alone solution that does the same thing.

It's easy to find wall mount units for a TV, I suggest using Monoprice.

Setting the grand parents up with one of these units so they can sit in their living room and use the TV, along with some sort of unit in the kids room is the way to go. The TV can always be easily repurposed later. If you already have a TV adding a Blue-Ray with the capability is a nice way to get Skype now and be able to play Disney movies for the kid later.

The only skype for blackberry is on Verizon phones:

http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/get-skype/on-your-mobile/skype-mobile/blackberry/

Now, I can understand that Verizon gave skype a bunch of cash to make skype an exclusive among US carriers, but what about the rest of us non-USians?

(and yes, if you extract the skype app from a Verizon blackberry then transfer it to a non-Verizon blackberry, it won't work)

Even though it's owned by Microsoft, Skype won't support low end Windows Phone Tango devices as it “requires a minimum of 512MB of memory to install and use Skype”, and doesn't yet have support for receiving calls in the background -- if the app isn't running.

That's in the context of a particular piece of hardware which happens to produce an H.264 stream. The Skype blog post cited by Wikipedia doesn't say anything about H.264 being used preferentially for full high definition video calls and doesn't imply that a web cam which produces a full high definition VP8 stream wouldn't be supported. You're reading too much into it.

Hrm, I was relying on that wikipedia entry for my info so I'll concede that that I may be wrong on that point. It doesn't change the fact however that Skype does now support h.264 and webcams are implementing h.264 in hardware in order to prevent burdening the CPU like the other codecs do. Further more it seems Skype had to go h.264 in order to support a variety of portable and embedded devices :

"Skype’s decision to adopt H.264 was made because it has become the de facto codec for video delivery across a wide range of devices. Due to hardware acceleration built into low-powered devices such as TVs, Blu-ray players and mobile handsets, video publishers have increasingly turned to H.264 for video playback."

"VP7 is used for versions prior to Skype 5.5. As of version 5.7 VP8 is used for both group and one on one standard definition video chat and H264 is used for 720p and 1080p high definition group and one on one video chat."

That's in the context of a particular piece of hardware which happens to produce an H.264 stream. The Skype blog post cited by Wikipedia doesn't say anything about H.264 being used preferentially for full high definition video calls and doesn't imply that a web cam which produces a full high definition VP8 stream wouldn't be supported. You're reading too much into it.

And note that Microsoft STILL DOES NOT OWN SKYPE.

YES IT DOES.

Stupid lameness filter won't let me yell back at people who yelled first.

[To] actually verify the packet is a Skype [packet] you have to pull it apart more [than] if you were merely going to route it.

... unless you happen to know that the destination IP belongs to a Skype service node, in which case all you need to know is where the packet is going - especially since you won't (in theory) be able to decode any information in the packet in the first place. Skype packets are encrypted, making packet disassembly a waste of time that could be used instead to correlate your internet traffic with individual components of a BitTorrent swarm and a known trafficker in Skype communications, without having to (or being able to) spy on what you were actually talking about on that Skype call.

This is an example of a side channel attack.

On the bright side, it's likely to be inadmissible as evidence in court, due to the fact that the information is obtained via methods that will probably be deemed illegal; wiretapping without a warrant is illegal in most jurisdictions. On the not-so-bright side, that's unlikely to deter anyone; it should be easy enough to use the illegal evidence to construct a legal fiction in order to obtain the information in other ways.

Oh for fucks sake, it was nothing to do with Microsoft, and more to do with Skype wanting everyone to switch to Skype Connect (which may or may not be a shittier solution. I make no comment as to the superiority of either choice).

Maybe instead of the piece of shit that 2.2 beta is they'll release a new version for Linux. Something that allows you to choose specific PulseAudio/ALSA devices like its Windows brethren would be nice. I'm not holding my breath, though, as I expect pigs will fly backwards first.

Done in 2007: https://extras.skype.com/486/view

It isn't free once you go beyond 2 computers on a teleconference, so maybe it means they are buying a license for them to use "Group Video":

Description of Skype's Group Video Feature

"We've had the technology to do video calling for quite a while - people just aren't that into it."

Wrong: we want video phones but we don't want to pay a lot for it, especially since it requires both parties to spend $$$. People do want to see each other, webcams seem to have done quite well since they're less than $100 but few wanted to spend the several hundreds of dollars that video calling had cost until just recently.

In response to the synopsis: "we can use Skype to call one another over the Internet and video call with mobile `phones, but the video quality is nowhere near the quality shown in the film 2001 or the aforementioned Transatlantic Tunnel film."

Huh? You act like progress on video calling has just ended. You realize 20 years ago a video phone cost $750 and looked and sounded like crap over 56k, right?

It wasn't until 2004 when a real video phone was released by D-Link. Using broadband eliminated the framerate problems but the price was a bit high at $400 each.

Video phones really wouldn't be possible until we had a wireless network that could handle it but 3G cellphones weren't even available in the US until 2004, and 3G was still so new by 2007 that the first iPhone didn't even offer 3G.

Fast-forward just 6 years after 3G first reached the US and Skype now allows video calls through 3G on iPhones for free. That's amazing progress! To go from the network just being setup to transmitting video calls over it for free. And that was all of 6 months ago, give it some time, another 6 years from now using your cellphone as a video phone will look better than it did in 2001 and Transatlantic Tunnel and it will be free.

An Update On Skype For Mac

April 1

77 replies, the last posted April 16.

Download.com alone has logged over 400,000 downloads of Skype 5.1for the Mac since May 27. Skype for Mac

FaceTime is a 13 MB download, Skype 20 MB.
Close enough.

Skype is a VoIP or the masses.The client will be shaped by their needs and not yours. That is the price you pay for being able to call out to 700 million users.

I hope they purge their gui designer too, I'm still using skype 3.8 because of the horrible chat interface of skype 4 and 5, for example these days everyone has a widescreen, so why the fuck they waste vertical space by putting a huge contact list on the top instead of leaving it to the right? the chat content doesn't automatically resize with the window, you have to drag it, also there is no big visual difference between your and others text, with skype 3 you get a big blue/gray bar before the text, with skype 4-5 it's very subtle since it's only the nickname that changes color
I don't use osx but I've seen that they made a gui contest, this is the one that is winning right now http://macthemes.skype.com/themes/54 I wonder if skype mac user will become epileptic after using this theme :P

https://support.skype.com/en-us/faq/FA503/What-can-I-do-if-I-receive-spam-messages-or-abusive-calls
https://support.skype.com/en-us/faq/FA10883/What-can-I-do-if-I-receive-spam-messages-or-abusive-calls-in-Skype-for-Mac
https://support.skype.com/en-us/faq/FA10548/What-security-do-you-have-in-place-for-under-16-year-olds

https://support.skype.com/en-us/faq/FA503/What-can-I-do-if-I-receive-spam-messages-or-abusive-calls
https://support.skype.com/en-us/faq/FA10883/What-can-I-do-if-I-receive-spam-messages-or-abusive-calls-in-Skype-for-Mac
https://support.skype.com/en-us/faq/FA10548/What-security-do-you-have-in-place-for-under-16-year-olds

https://support.skype.com/en-us/faq/FA503/What-can-I-do-if-I-receive-spam-messages-or-abusive-calls
https://support.skype.com/en-us/faq/FA10883/What-can-I-do-if-I-receive-spam-messages-or-abusive-calls-in-Skype-for-Mac
https://support.skype.com/en-us/faq/FA10548/What-security-do-you-have-in-place-for-under-16-year-olds

Skype offers SIP trunking: http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/business/skype-connect/
So you can go ahead and stick to SIP while interconnecting with your Skype buddies.

This could be the Skype killer we have been wishing for. It doesn't have to work with Skype, it just has to be as good as Skype and to be open. Imagine people being able to set up their own private Skype-like servers for personal and business use...

Nowhere are networking effects more important then in a telephone service.

Skype has 700 million users, demands nothing more of them the launch of the Skype client ---

and the Skype client is being built into everything:

The iOS mobile device. The PSP 2000. Soon to come Skype fpr MS Office and enterprise office systems. Microsoft SYNC for your Ford car or truck. Here today, Skype for your Samsung or Panasonic HDTV. Skype For HDTV

The FOSS server is the easy part.

Getting your FOSS client placed where it needs to be is hard.

There is no fundamental reason why the WiFi enabled home security system couldn't Skype in or out. The difference from the geek's DIY system is that the camera will be ready to run when you open the box from Home Depot.

You will give it a list of numbers that can dial in and a list of numbers it can dial out. There will be a few other user preference and set-up dialogs to complete. But that will be the end of it except for the occasional firmware upgrade.

You can call out internationally with Google Voice, it's just not free. The rates are here. I spot checked a few countries with Skype's rates and Google seems to be cheaper.

Isn't this the automatic patch that they mentioned yesterday? It fixes the same issue people were having before, but without the manual operation of:

Windows
        1.If the Skype icon is displayed in the system tray at the bottom right of the screen, right-click it and select Quit.
        2.Click Start, type "run" and press Enter. (On Windows XP: Click Start and then Run.)
        3.Type "%appdata%\skype" and click OK.
        4.Locate and delete the file shared.xml. The file may be displayed as shared if file extensions are not displayed by default on your computer.
        5.If you cannot find this file: Click Start, type "run" and press Enter. (On Windows XP: Click Start and then Run.)
                Type "control folders" and click OK.
                In the View tab, ensure that Show hidden files and folders is enabled.
                Repeat the instructions from the beginning.

        6.Restart Skype.

Mac
        1.Open Finder and locate the following folder:

~/Library/Application Support/Skype
        2.Delete the file shared.xml.
        3.Restart Skype.

The ~ sign means your home folder. You can find your home folder by opening Finder and selecting Go > Home from the menu bar or pressing Command (Apple), Shift and H keys at the same time.

Linux
        1.Go to the following folder: /home/YourLinuxUserName/.Skype
        2.Delete the file shared.xml.
        3.Restart Skype.

The Skype folder is a hidden folder - please check Show hidden files in your file browser to view and access it.

This info is obtained from: http://heartbeat.skype.com/

... maybe take the time to check system status :

http://heartbeat.skype.com/

and/or read published solution:

https://support.skype.com/en/faq/FA10874/I-m-having-problems-with-Skype-today?frompage=category

... maybe take the time to check system status :

http://heartbeat.skype.com/

and/or read published solution:

https://support.skype.com/en/faq/FA10874/I-m-having-problems-with-Skype-today?frompage=category

Try this fix:

http://heartbeat.skype.com/2011/05/problems_signing_into_skype_an.html

Worked for me on Linux, and for a few friends on Windows.

It redirects to http://www.skype.com/intl/nl/home

Featuring the "Works on My Machine" certificate. http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2007/03/the-works-on-my-machine-certification-program.html

I'd really want to use Skype, but its no use as nobody i knows does so. Vendor lockout!?
Luckely here, the Dutch government has ruled that Dutch telecom companies may NOT charge extra for using instant messaging (or similar) apps on their network.

Its a mess right now, but its likely a free (possibly opensource) alternative will either launch or stand out of the crowd in the years to come.

If you can't connect Skype to SIP, why do you need it?

But you can connect Skype to SIP: Skype Connect for SIP

SIP still seems alive and well though. They get a monthly revenue stream from that though; seems a slightly safer option for Skype users wanting interoperability.

On the video press conference - here at 1 hour 18 mins, Ballmer's asked about multi-platform. He mentions Office on Apple, and mentions Apple a couple of times - but didn't mention Linux or Android. He said it was important, but I'm not sure I'm sold. "I said it, and I mean it, we'll continue to support non-Microsoft"... followed by "Two, we're one of the few companies with a track record of actually doing this". So he kinda shot himself down a bit.

Not just linux users either. Mobile users except for those with Windows phones are probably fucked too, the android skype users almost certainly.

Just a lot of mumbo-jumbo to me.. I'd stay away. Not safe..

1. Blog your progress. Whatever you did today, blog it. Let people know what you did that worked, or what was faster (Nginx vs. Apache), or what wasn't (ColdFusion?). Don't reinvent the wheel, use WordPress, regardless of whether you like PHP/MySQL or not.

2. Use a subscription/payment management company. You're just a small group of nerds, not accounts receivable clerks. Fastspring, Plimus are free; Chargify, Subsify, Cheddar Getter, BrainTree, Spreedly charge; and Zuora is expensive.

3. Use Google Docs and Slideshare to share documents.

4. Chat. Don't just rely on email. Emails can often read like "this way or the highway". Be collaborative. You can often accomplish more with 15-30min collaboratively as opposed to composing and responding to long emails. Skype, Jabber, SIP

5. Take notes on what you did. Made a server configuration or a setting change in your CMS, your compiler, or whatever? Copy and paste from xterm so you don't have to guess about those commandline switches next time. Take screenshots and make them available to others. Zim, Projly, DokuWiki.

6. Have a phone numbers. If not bog-standard landline phones, take advantage of Google Voice and SkypeOut and SkypeIn (people can call your Skype line on a normal phone number). I realize Google Voice might not be available in South Africa yet.

7. Someone mentioned version control. Use git if you're a cool kid. Or svn if you're old and busted. Read the RedBean book. I've had success in having non-tech colleagues using graphical clients like TortoiseSVN (integrates into Windows Explorer).

8. Write tests. Any member of your team, sitting anyplace, should be able to push a button and run all your tests. Tests document how you're supposed to use a given method, class, etc., especially valuable when you're so far flung. Use JUnit, PHPUnit, FooUnit for your language. Write the tests before you develop, and you're doing Test Driven Development.

9. If you're writing tests, that implies loose coupling, which might require dependency injection. Can be difficult to climb that mountain, but it's worth it when you can just run a test and be sure your project works.

10. Development processes: Scrum, Extreme Programming. UML lets you communicate graphically about objects.

As I recall, the latest Linux Skype client has been version Skype 2.1 Beta 2 for Linux for well over a year now, with no sign whatsoever of it progressing any further. Then again, I'm not too bothered about that, as newer Windows versions I have used have all been more bloated then previous ones with no appreciable additional functionality worth speaking of.

They announced it, I'm not sure that they ever actually released anything.

No, the continuous failure of not using a peer-reviewed key exchange method

And this matters, why?

its failure to use standards so it's not interoperable with other VoIP software.

Works for me with other VoIP software. Maybe you just don't know how to use Skype services properly?

Why do I block skype? Because the only way to have it work properly through most firewalls is to allow ALL outgoing ports.

Skype lists three other firewall configurations that work, including two that only require egress on a single port that's almost always open anyway.

Its a massive, massive security issue you could drive an oil tanker through.

Oh, come on. Sure, egress filtering is a polite thing to do, but it's inbound connections that put you at risk. And chances are, if you do fall victim to some nefarious piece of malware that's making unwanted outbound connections, simple packet filtering will be useless anyway because it will fall back to TCP 80, or TCP 443, or even UDP 53, to tunnel out. Just like Skype does.

You advertise yourself as an "admin of some 12 years" experience, but you're exactly the type of admin I dislike. You take a personal stance against something, and then back up your bias with a mixture of pseudo-facts, deliberate omission, and high-handed horseshit.